An O.A.P.'s view of everything.

Monthly Archives: March 2013

Sunny and not too cold this morning for a ride to Little Lever – and then on to Bolton to the Bolton end of the canal. Some pictures, of the Manchester Mile-Markers, were taken on the way back.
Being Sunday (?) there were quite a few walkers and bike-riders around and, at Little Lever, horse-riders.

An icy canal early on, but it did seem to warm-up a bit later.
There were too quite a few bikes out this morning. Some expensively new. The canal tow-path, Radcliffe to Bury, was okay, but the railway viaduct path, over Wellington Street, Bury, was badly glassed-up. Take care if you bike over there.

Icy cold but bright sunshine again on this Good Friday.
Some Radcliffe folk, at another web-site, were on about the old Farmers Arms (Benny’s) pub. So, along the route this morning I did snatch a shot of the place as it is now…
I’m not sure if this is in Radcliffe or Bury – it’s close either way.
Along the lane from The Farmers, up the banking and Elton Reservoir was full of sea-birds!
From the reservoir around the lanes to Hinds Lane, off Wellington Street, and a straight-run back along the canal to Radcliffe.

Icy cold again this morning but, some of the deciduous trees and shrubs along Banana Walk have got new green shoots! The canal, by the Red Bridge though was well frozen over.
Went over the railway bridge to Bury Road and then back by the Advert Bridge and on along the canal. It was well frozen at the scaffolded bridge.
Over the scaffolded bridge and past the site of the old Farmers Arms (Benny’s) along the lane, then up the embankment for a look across Elton Reservoir.
It was quite clear this morning with Constellation Mill, as ever, on the sky-line.

Another cold one and, today, there is a bit of snow falling. The writing, along the side of the Red Bridge, at Radcliffe, is ‘artistic’, it says: ‘Water made it wet’. I think it’s something to do with the Heritage or Sculpture Trail. The problem is; the writing and the bridge are more or less the same colour – so the writing is hard to see…

Icy cold with some snow this morning but a mile or two was done on the bike. (It’s quicker than the bus!)
But, later, was up Fairfield (98 and 469 busses) and it was snowing quite heavily along the route – not sticking though.

A very cold and strong wind this morning which gave problems keeping the camera still when taking pictures! One turned-out reasonable from Elton Reservoir and it’s of a few Tufted Ducks I think.
On the way back, along the canal, with the wind behind, land-speed records may have been broken!

Very little snow around Radcliffe but the wind is strong, from the north, and bitingly cold. Other than for that it’s a fairly normal, northern morning. Not many folk were out though; especially on bikes. But that might not be totally down to the weather. The first picture, today, is of Cycle Route 6 at the side of Coney Green School. The path itself is a mass of tiny glass shards that make normal cycling impossible. After a hundred yards or so the glass isn’t as plentiful – but some is still there. This is work for a good brush and shovel or the mini-sweeper that trundles around. So if you’re biking that area it’s perhaps best to walk a few yards from the main road.
There’s not much snow here as said, but the hills are well covered, if you look from the Red Bridge, and going up Banana Walk, today, was a breeze with the wind behind.
Not all that long ago steam trains would have chugged along here to Bolton; the stacked stones of a small bridge taking them over what may have been a farm track.
It’s strange to think, in the biting cold, that at this time last year we were walking the farm lanes to Elton in warm and bright sunshine!
So much for Global Warming eh?

Snow and cold this morning so, for safety, the bike’s taken a back-seat.
There’s not a lot of snow on the roads around here. Much of what there is is mushy. But still, the cars fly past…crazy eh? Surely, if you’ve got to drive a car in that fashion, in this weather, around here, your product, price and location are all wrong! 🙂
But hey, enough of that, you have to watch what you write on blogs lately. Better to stick to Daffodils in the snow…
Or old buildings like cotton-mills…
… on foot.
More pics were taken today and they’re on About Radcliffe II page. It was, really, a bit iffy for the bike so a mile or two was walked along nearby roads. It’s not as bad, around here, as some folk have had it, but it is cold, with a biting wind.

Strong winds and sleety snow this morning, but, the snow – quite heavy while along the canal – doesn’t show on the pictures. Bleak and wintry at Elton Reservoir but quite a few were out walking their dogs. (Here the snow was like a blizzard – blowing north)
Yesterday, here, although cold, it looked like a sunlit holiday advert!
From the reservoir to the old rail-tracks and even between the trees the snow was falling thick and fast. Then down and along Hinds Lane. By the oaks at the canal-end it was blizzard conditions again.
It was similar along the canal, back to the starting-point of the Red Bridge, wind-blown snow.
But, none of it shows ??